"Keheheheh… you're still too green, brat!"
Shiki caught Jin at the exact moment his spinning slash slowed, one blade already descending.
"Chop Wave!"
"Don't underestimate me, Shiki!"
Jin's greatsword shuddered, sword aura condensing to a single line as he kicked off, bringing his blade down toward the incoming slash.
Shiki's mocking voice sounded right in his ear.
"I told you, you're still too green!"
"Not good—can't dodge!" Jin's pupils shrank. He had just enough time to coat himself in armament.
"Keheheheh—die!"
Shiki closed in from the side and slashed.
"Whoosh!"
Jin's body went flying, smashing straight through a low hill.
Rumble—!
The little mountain exploded into rubble.
"Hoh? He actually blocked it with Haki?" Shiki raised an eyebrow.
Down in the crater, Jin pushed himself up, stomping his foot hard.
"Soru!"
They'd only been fighting a short while, but Shiki was already surprised at the difference.
"The brat's faster than before…"
But to him, it still wasn't enough.
"Viper!"
A serpentine slash curled through the air, spiraling toward Jin.
Jin roared back.
"Big Strength Cannon!"
Sword aura gathered at the tip of his blade, launched in a straight line.
Clang—!
The serpentine slash split in two, Jin's line of sword aura shredding it and continuing on toward Shiki.
"Interesting," Shiki's lips curled.
"So you're using me as a whetstone?"
"Keheheheh—fine then."
"Lion's Thousand Cut Valley!"
Multiple slashes screamed toward him.
Jin met them one by one.
"Whoosh, whoosh!"
He carved through the incoming blades, then leapt above Shiki, both hands gripping the greatsword as he swung down.
"Big Strength—Miracle Slash!"
Shiki looked up. Too late to dodge. He threw both arms up, crossing his blades in front of him, armament coating his forearms.
Boom!
"Brat… what ridiculous strength!" Shiki grunted, teeth bared as the giant blade pressed him down.
He lost focus for just a moment.
And that was all Jin needed.
"Fall!"
Shiki's body was hammered from the sky, slamming into the floating island below.
CRASH!
The sword blow gouged a deep crater into the rock.
"Boss Shiki!!"
"Still got time to gawk?"Kuro sneered, body blurring as he carved his way through pirate after pirate.
"You bastard! Think you can treat my men like vegetables?!" a squad captain roared, swinging a heavy axe at him.
Kuro slipped aside.
"Then I'll just chop the main dish first."
"Arrogant Marine! Die!"
The axe hacked down again and again, each strike leaving cracks in the stone. Kuro weaved between them, occasionally flicking his claws out in return.
After a few exchanges, bloody holes had already appeared all over the captain's body.
"Damn it! You three—help me!"
"On it, Jess!"
"Now this feels right." Kuro's smile widened as more pirates rushed him.
"Just chopping up trash gets boring."
He flicked a glance toward Jin and Shiki's duel overhead.
"So that's the gap between us… tch."
"I really do need to master Haki properly."
"ORA ORA ORA!!"
"Muda muda muda!!"
Jango had long since abandoned his rings. He was fighting with his fists now, eyes bloodshot.
"Big Strength Punch!"
Boom!
His opponent flew back, crashing into a pile of crates.
"Hahahaha! Who else can match the great Jango?!"
"Don't get cocky, Marine!" a burly captain roared, charging in with a punch of his own.
Jango cackled.
"Cocky? So what? Got the guts to kill me?!"
BANG BANG BANG BANG!
Their fists collided again and again, turning into a straight-up slugfest.
Up above, Shiki rose from his crater, fury simmering.
"Brat, you've really done it now."
"Lion's Wrath: Palace Earth Rumble!"
He finally stopped playing around and began to fully use his Float–Float Fruit powers.
The island itself twisted and buckled as an enormous white lion's head of earth and rock tore free, lunging at Jin.
Jin's face lit up.
"Got mad, did you, Golden Lion? Been a while since someone knocked you out of the sky?"
"Big Strength Cannon!"
BOOM!
The cannon of sword aura slammed into the lion.
The two forces collided and detonated, dust and rock shrapnel exploding in all directions.
"Tch. Annoying brat."
"Fine, then I'll show you…"
"What a real Great Swordsman looks like!"
"Lion: Chop Wave!"
Shiki slashed, and a single gigantic blade of sword aura, nearly a kilometer long, carved toward Jin.
"Damn!"Gion's hand tightened on Kinpira.
She wanted to help, but ten of Shiki's elites were on her from all sides.
"Clatter clatter—Chemical Explosion!"
Indigo cackled as he hurled bubbling, toxic spheres her way.
"Damn!"
She sliced the bombs apart, flipping away as they detonated, then spun, cutting down a pirate who'd tried to sneak her from behind.
"A 'Great Swordsman', huh? The step I haven't taken yet…"
Jin sucked in a deep breath, eyes burning.
"Then show me…"
"What a true Great Swordsman is."
He sprinted straight at the incoming slash.
"Big Strength Slash!"
BOOM!
He cut through—but when he emerged on the other side, fresh wounds criss-crossed his body.
"Keheheheh! You wanted to see it, right? Then watch closely."
"Lion: Chop Wave!!"
Another enormous slash, even denser than the last, shrieked through the sky.
Jin's heart pounded.
Almost…
I can feel it.
That realm… I'm just one step away.
BOOM!
He misjudged once and got hammered, sent spinning through the air.
"Keheheheh! Still way off, brat!"
"Lion's Threat: Earth Cutter!"
Jin steadied himself and roared back:
"Gale Sword Style—Big Strength Spiral Slash!"
This time, his sword aura twisted as it flew, forming a spinning ring.
"Hoh? Great Swordsman—no, that's…"
"Wind."
Shiki's eyes narrowed, then he burst out laughing.
"Keheheheh, so that's it."
"You finally felt the wind, did you?"
"But you, with that huge slab of metal…"
"Using wind—doesn't that feel a little… off, brat?"
Jin laughed wildly, blood running down his arms.
"Wind is speed, Shiki."
"And if my speed goes up…"
"So does my power!"
"Gale Sword Style—Secret Art: Phantom Break Slash!!"
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
One slash became three, overlapping and twisting.
Clang, clang, clang!
Shiki kicked each one aside, the blades sparking off his swords.
"Not bad," he admitted. "You're one step closer to a real Great Swordsman."
"But get this clear, brat."
"I'm not your training dummy."
He closed the distance in a blink, abandoning ranged slashes altogether.
Shiki had already seen it: sending sword aura from afar didn't do much against Jin. Only up close did he have a real edge.
"Tch. Fine by me."
"Wind-Walking Step!"
CLANG CLANG CLANG!
They collided in midair, sword against sword, sparks flying, blades leaving afterimages.
The longer they fought, the more natural the wind around Jin began to feel.
"Gale–Shatter Slash!"
Tiny blades of air flickered outward like a shotgun, peppering toward Shiki.
"Damn it!" Shiki swung his leg-blades in a blur, kicking away as many as he could, but a few still slipped through.
Rip.
A thin line of blood appeared at his waist. The wound was small—but it stung his pride far more than his flesh.
"DAMN BRAT! DIE!!"
CLANG CLANG CLANG!
Jin parried, smiling as he felt out the wind's flow, adjusting his footwork.
This feeling…
I can apply it elsewhere, too.
"Tailwind Step—!"
He vanished.
A heartbeat later, he reappeared at Shiki's back, sword thrusting straight toward the old pirate's kidney.
"You think I'll fall for the same trick twice?!"
Clang!
Shiki hooked the blade aside with one sword, his other leg lashing out at Jin's flank.
"Wind-Quick Slash!"
Jin twisted, turning defense into attack.
Clang! Clang! Clang!!
Shiki's eyes widened.
"His speed jumped again—and his strength too?!"
He couldn't help it—he clicked his tongue.
This brat really is a monster.
In just this short span, his battle sense has sharpened…
He risked a glance at the battlefield.
Big mistake.
Scarlett the gorilla was being chased all over the place by a sloppy-looking Marine who wouldn't stop punching him, even when other pirates piled in.
No matter how they swarmed, the gorilla just kept getting singled out and hammered.
Indigo looked even worse. His robes were in tatters, his body covered in cuts and bruises, and the other elites weren't much better. That female Marine had them under constant pressure, never giving them a chance to regroup.
"Damn it… this again?"
"Just like back then on Roger's ship—every single crewman a monster."
"They almost beat me into depression then…"
"Now it's happening again in the East Blue."
"East Blue!!"
He grit his teeth, fury boiling over.
"Yaaahhhhhh!!"
The more he thought about it, the angrier he got.
Down below, Jin's eyes brightened.
"There's your opening, Golden Lion."
"Gale Blade—Dawnbreak!"
Whoosh!
Shiki didn't react in time.
The slash carved him out of the air and hurled him down.
He hit hard.
"Peh—"
Shiki spat blood, glaring up with murder in his eyes.
"I'LL KILL YOU!!"
He gripped his swords tighter, fighting through the pain.
"Then show me."
Jin's eyes burned.
"The real twin-blade Great Swordsman."
"Keheheheh…"
"You asked for it!"
Shiki blurred, his speed spiking.
So fast, Jin thought, stunned.
Even after all my boosts, I still can't match this…
"Go to hell, brat!"
The twin blades came from every angle, a storm of cuts.
So fast, so heavy…
So this is a Great Swordsman.
I want that.
As wounds multiplied across his body, Jin felt the strange sensation inside him grow stronger and clearer.
"Keheheheh! What's wrong, brat?"
"Seeing it now?"
"This is the gap between you and a true Great Swordsman!"
CLANG!
Jin was knocked away again.
Shiki laughed madly.
"Keheheheh! Die!"
"Lion's Thousand Cut Valley!!"
Jin could feel the pressure of it even before the slashes fully formed.
"This one's stronger than before."
If I take it head-on… I'll die.
Tokikake kicked a staggering gorilla aside and looked up.
"White brat!"
Scarlett roared, throwing his battered body in the way.
"Ho ho ho!!"
"Outta my way!" Tokikake slammed into him again.
Gion saw it too and tried to rush in.
"Science Big Explosion!!"
Indigo gathered chemicals into a massive ball and hurled it, cackling.
"You're not messing with Lord Shiki's duel, Marine!!"
"Damn it, I won't make it!" Gion sliced through the bomb, flipping away from the blast.
All they could do was watch.
Jin, however, was… calm.
No panic, even with death clawing at his back.
He pulled his greatsword behind him, body lowering into a draw stance.
Wind, huh…
A Great Swordsman cuts through shackles.
And wind… is freedom.
So if I cut through the shackles—
The wind… is free.
"Hm?" Shiki suddenly felt something was off.
Jin smiled faintly.
"So that's it."
"The freedom I've been chasing…"
"Is the wind."
"Gale Sword Style—One-Line Sky!"
Whoosh!
A razor-thin line of sword aura flashed out, tiny compared to the two massive cross-slashes bearing down on him.
◇ BONUS & SUPPORT ◇
◇ 1 bonus chapter for every 10 reviews — drop a comment!
◇ 1 bonus chapter for every 100 Power Stones.
◇ Read 60 chapters ahead on P@treon → patreon.com/StrawHatStudios